An additional point on focus

A person can normally be focused, or in “flow“, for 50 to 90 consecutive minutes (source: Peak Performance, by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness).

So, after you have picked your long, medium and short term focus, and after you have made sure that the amount of push distraction (e-mails, notification, colleagues, and so on) are reduced to almost zero, you still need to make the effort to sit down for a chunk of time and do the work.

Pull distractions might be quite dangerous as well: if we get up from our place three or four times in an hour as we feel restless, if we feel the need to check if we got a message, if we really need to pin that item on the calendar right now, if we absolutely must give in to the urge of going outside and breath some of the fresh spring air, if we have a meeting every half an hour for the rest of the day. No matter how well organized you have the rest, that is not how you will eventually deliver your best work.

Take a breath, go for a walk, attend that meeting, and come back when you can allocate time and attention to what matters. The reward will boost your morale.